Israel is pressuring the United States to ensure Syria remains weak and fragmented, including by allowing Russia to maintain its military bases there to counter Turkey's growing influence in the country,
Reuters first reported, citing four sources familiar with the matter. Israel and Turkey have become enemies once again, during the Gaza War, with Erdogan advocating that Israel plots to invade Anatolia. The Reuters report, if confirmed will stoke Turkey’s fears of Israeli incursion into her hinterland. Both sides are lobbying the White House with opposite demands. Turkey wants US troops out of Syria, while Israel advocates continued support for Syrian Kurdish entity SDF.
Israeli officials, alarmed by the Islamist rulers now in power in Syria with Ankara's backing, have conveyed to Washington that they pose a threat to Israel's borders, according to the sources.
Concern: Syria becoming a base for Hamas
The lobbying efforts indicate a coordinated Israeli campaign to influence US policy at a critical juncture for Syria, as the Islamists who ousted Bashar al-Assad seek to stabilize the fractured country and persuade Washington to lift crippling sanctions.
"Israel's biggest fear is that Turkey will intervene to protect the new Islamist regime in Syria, which would then become a base for Hamas and other militants," said Aron Lund, a fellow at the US-based Century International research institute. It remains unclear to what extent President Donald Trump's administration is considering adopting Israel's proposals, the sources told Reuters.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that "Israel will not tolerate the presence of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham or any other force affiliated with the new regime in southern Syria and demands that the area be demilitarized."
Following Assad's ouster, Israel has conducted extensive airstrikes on Syrian military bases and deployed forces to a UN-monitored demilitarized zone inside Syria.
Israel will not allow the new Syrian government’s military forces to operate in territory south of Syria’s capital Damascus, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned.
Addressing a military ceremony in Israel on Sunday, Netanyahu demanded the “full demilitarisation of southern Syria from troops of the new Syrian regime in the Quneitra, Daraa and Suwayda provinces”.
He also warned that Israel would not accept any threats to the Druze community in Syria, who live in the Golan Heights, a Syrian territory illegally occupied by Israel, and other parts of southwestern Syria.
Israel has taken advantage of al-Assad’s fall to expand into a buffer zone between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights and southern Syria, breaching a United Nations agreement brokered in 1974.
Turkey says Israeli occupation in Syria is ‘expansionist’
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said on Monday that Israel’s actions in Syria are part of its expansionist agenda, reported
Ragip Soylu of MEE.
His comments come after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would not tolerate the new Syrian government’s forces being deployed south of Damascus.
“Netanyahu’s government and those who follow his agenda are using the current situation to further Israel’s expansionism,” Fidan said during a press briefing on Monday.
“The ongoing occupations in Lebanon and Syria, the provocation and attempted annexation of the West Bank, and the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza are all part of a dangerous plan.”
Fidan argued that Israel’s security policies rely on military aggression and external support. He said it doesn’t seek a two-state solution, instead focusing on irredentism and military aggression.
US reported ready to pull out troops from Syria
Former United States assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs stated on Thursday that the US might acquiesce to Turkey’s request to leave Syria and draw Iraq into the “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran, but resume “conditioned” support to the Kurdistan Region.
During a discussion on US foreign policy and its regional engagement in the Middle East at the Erbil Forum 2025, David Schenker noted that US President Donald Trump’s foreign policy is largely defined by “transactionalism.” This approach may result in “downgraded US involvement in the Middle East” and a focus on “deal-making” in the region instead,
reports Kurdish source Rudaw.
IMPORTANT DİSCLOSURE: PA Turkey intends to inform Turkey watchers with diverse views and opinions. Articles in our website may not necessarily represent the view of our editorial board or count as endorsement.
Follow our English language YouTube videos @ REAL TURKEY:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKpFJB4GFiNkhmpVZQ_d9Rg
And content at Twitter: @AtillaEng
Facebook: Real Turkey Channel:
https://www.facebook.com/realturkeychannel/
Schenker addressed the deployment of some 2,500 US troops in Iraq and another 850 in Syria, stating that Trump views these forces as part of “forever wars,” which he vowed to end during his electoral campaign.
Describing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the “Trump whisperer,” Schenker noted that Erdogan had phoned Trump to convince him that “Turkey can play the US role in Syria,” urging Washington “to pull out.” He explained that Turkey sees “Syria as a sphere of influence” and is willing to “take up the US’s role” in the country, including in routing out remnants of the Islamic State (ISIS).
Schenker also referenced Trumps’ stance, stating that “he's not interested in being involved in Syria” and views such a move as a mistake. However, he suggested that shaping Syria’s future might be a task Trump “is delegating it to the Europeans.”
IMPORTANT DİSCLOSURE: PA Turkey intends to inform Turkey watchers with diverse views and opinions. Articles in our website may not necessarily represent the view of our editorial board or count as endorsement.
Follow our English language YouTube videos @ REAL TURKEY:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKpFJB4GFiNkhmpVZQ_d9Rg
And content at Twitter: @AtillaEng
Facebook: Real Turkey Channel:
https://www.facebook.com/realturkeychannel/
rte-netanyahu
